I prefer a shifter, theres nothing like moving moving the lever and feeling/hearing the clunk of locking it in.
I actually converted the t case airshifter on my rockcrawler to lever actuated.
And while were discussing this Id rather have manual locking hubs to, automated equipment seems to have to many finnicky and delicate switches and sensors.
Never had manual hubs and manual t case fail to lock in, unless they were frozen, then a few seconds with a propane torch fixed that problem. Cant say it was as easy to field fix automated hubs and t cases.

Definitely prefer the floor levers on my '84 & '90 trucks along with the decent sized light in the instrument cluster showing that 4X4 is engaged. My '08 Silverado has a rotary dial with one little light the size of a pin head in the dial that is barely visible in the daylight.

I'm going to go against the grain here. Up until I lost my last job, I had two GM Trucks from 2007. One was the classic with the lever activation (the work provided truck) and the other is my personal Silverado NBS with the "autotrac" 4WD option, the little twisty knob selector (which is now my work truck). I got to try them both out in the mud and snow etc.
At first I hated the new knob, but when it snows out here, I found that I prefer it over the lever. I like the haste free approach. Now, if I were a serious off-road guy as opposed of a site construction supervisor, I can see the multiple benefits to the lever. As mentioned above there is far less to break being the most obvious.

Another one against the grain here... but still in the middle like bornagainbiker55. I've had both up here, and when driving up i70 heading to the slopes the push-button is much more convenient, when everything works. Quite a few more components that could fail but for my DD I like the convenience factor. With that said... if I get a company car I wouldn't mind throwing a 5 or 6 speed manual shift as well as lever for the t-case :great: